


Marks a battle, still feel raw, a million pieces of me on the floor

by SilverShadow1



Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Bitterness, Blood and Gore, Canon Disabled Character, Developing Relationship, Gen, Graphic description of school shooting, Gun Violence (mention only), Mild Hurt/Comfort, Set during s4e6, Stop the Bleed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:48:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25064161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverShadow1/pseuds/SilverShadow1
Summary: “Want to be partners?”“Does anyone really want to do this?”“It’s good practice?”“To what end?”ORAlex and Charlie are partners for "Stop The Bleed." Set during s4e6.
Relationships: Charlie St. George/Alex Standall
Comments: 4
Kudos: 73





	Marks a battle, still feel raw, a million pieces of me on the floor

**Author's Note:**

> So, I may have marked it up in terms of archive warnings, but I wanted to play it safe. It's basically because I included dialogue of Alex talking about the power behind a rifle and how it would rip apart a person. The rest is basically mentions of blood, so if that upsets you, please proceed with caution or consider taking a pass on this story.
> 
> Resources: https://13reasonswhy.info
> 
> Title: "Exit Wounds" by The Script

Alex hated health class.

He hated it on a good day. Talking about sex and their bodies? More than any teenager could deal with when surrounded by other teenagers. Was it important? Sure, maybe in fifth and sixth grade as their bodies were changing. At this stage in his life, though, he could get all that information on the internet or you know, from firsthand experience.

What they were doing today wasn’t health class, though.

No, it was dubbed “Stop The Bleed” because apparently that’s a thing. Instead of actually confronting the gun violence epidemic, the state and federal governments thought training children for war was the way to go.

Sweet land of liberty, right?

There were dummies scattered around the gym and, as Coach Kerba explained, they would be applying tourniquets. It was grotesque, and that was saying something. Alex and his friends saw many disturbing things over the last year. This was up there, though.

“Alright, partner up.”

The buzz of people pairing up with their friends began. Alex’s first instinct was to look for Tyler, but he quickly realized that Tony grabbed him. Then Clay paired off with Justin. So, that was just -

“Hey.” He looked up and saw Charlie standing in front of him with a smile. “Want to be partners?”

“Does anyone really want to do this?” questioned Alex, standing up. Charlie shrugged.

“It’s good practice?” said Charlie, though it came out as a question rather than a definitive statement. Alex knelt down on the opposite side of their dummy and raised an eyebrow.

“To what end?”

Coach Kerba blew his whistle.

“And, start!”

***

There was blood everywhere.

Well, it wasn’t actual blood, but it sure didn’t matter to his fucked up mind. Even though Charlie wasn’t his first partner choice, he was sure as hell glad that the two of them got paired together in the end. The boy’s hands were covered in “blood,” fully into applying the pressure where it was needed, and he was running orders to Alex for steps to take.

As far as Alex was concerned, Charlie could take the lead. If it were him, he’d probably have passed out by now.

As it was … he was already sort of lightheaded.

“Alex … hey, Alex, stay with me.”

Alex felt pressure on his wrist and looked down to see Charlie squeezing it. He tried to focus on that, but all he could see was the synthetic blood now on his wrist. Part of him felt like it was his own blood … from that winter.

He couldn’t remember it, but his parents must have found him not too different than -

“Focus on me, Alex. Hey, I need you to breathe.”

Alex exhaled and looked at Charlie, who had concerned eyes. He nodded.

“S-Sorry.” Charlie shook his head.

“No reason to be sorry,” said Charlie. “Can you mark the time it was applied?”

“Y-Yeah.” Alex took the Sharpie beside him and  marked a “T” on the  tourniquet  with the date and time of application.

“And, time!”

Alex deflated, slightly hunched. They did it. The person - no, the dummy - was fine.

“Hey, great work, everyone,” said Coach Kerba. “Look, I know this can be a tough exercise, but it only takes 2 to 5 minutes for someone to bleed out from a gunshot wound.”

Alex stared at the coach, but found himself tuning out the rest of his speech. His eyes wandered around to the others. Clay and Justin’s person - shit, dummy - bled out, but Tyler and Tony seemed to have more success like them.

Eventually, their group was told they could leave to clean up and get changed while the rest of the class got their turn at it. Lucky them.

He didn’t realize everyone from his group was gone, though, until he heard someone clear their throat. He looked up and saw Charlie and Coach Kerba standing in front of him. He quickly stood up, getting a slight head rush.

“You good, man?” asked Coach Kerba, concerned. He nodded quickly, but the coach looked unconvinced. He turned to Charlie. “Look after him, St. George.” Coach Kerba patted Charlie on the arm before returning to the rest of the class.

***

“You don’t have to play the role of ‘my keeper,’” said Alex, less than 10 minutes later.

The pair of them were in the locker room, washing their hands and arms. It almost felt like they were destroying evidence or something fucked up like that. “I’m fine.”

“I know,” said Charlie, quickly. “It’s just … it was a lot. For me as well. For everyone, I think. Coach just wants us to look out for each other.”

“Well, fuck all that’ll do if some lunatic comes in here with an automatic and bump stocks,” said Alex, drying his hands. “What are we going to do? Throw ourselves in front of them and hope that our bodies suddenly become bullet proof? That when it rips us to shreds, our best friends behind us won’t also get ripped apart once it exits us?” He turned and saw some underclassmen looking at him with appalled expressions. “What the fuck do you want?” he snapped.

They hurried away, leaving him and Charlie by the sink.

“I don’t know what to say,” admitted Charlie, and Alex nodded.

“Good,” said Alex. “There’s nothing you can say that wouldn’t be trite. I’ll give you that, Charles.” He started walking to his locker, then he turned around. “And thanks, I guess.”

Charlie looked at him with a skeptical expression.

“For what?”

“For … helping me focus,” said Alex after a pause. “For keeping me grounded in reality.”

Charlie offered a lopsided smile, which Alex returned. He began walking again when the younger boy called out to him.

“Are we still on for Spanish review in the library?”

Alex snorted.

“Only if you promise not to mock me endlessly.” Charlie’s smile was nothing but kind.

“I would never.” Alex looked at the ground and then back at Charlie.

“I know.”

**Author's Note:**

> Not really the kind of story that you can "enjoy," but I hope you liked it on some level.
> 
> Kudos and comments are appreciated.


End file.
